


Careless

by its_brilliant_thor



Category: unOrdinary (Webcomic)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Self-Indulgent, john/arlo if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-23 04:49:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23005999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/its_brilliant_thor/pseuds/its_brilliant_thor
Summary: John almost gets hit by a truck.
Relationships: John Doe & Arlo
Comments: 2
Kudos: 116





	1. John POV

“Over there!” John yells, pointing at the busy street. The thug has the bag of money on his back and is sprinting across the lanes; he weaves and dodges the steady flow of cars angrily honking at him, then runs into the park on the other side.  
  
Without thinking, John sprints after him, running into the street.  
  
“JOHN LOOK OUT!” Arlo yells. The ear splitting screeching of tires pierces his ears and the thunderous sound of a loud truck horn shakes him to the core. In horror he looks to his left and sees a huge truck speeding towards him. Fear paralyzes him and his mind goes blank.  
  
Suddenly, right in front of his eyes, a golden shield snaps into existence and encloses John. John hears the resounding _CRUNCH_ , and falls back on his hands in shock. He stares as glass and metal bounces off the barrier, and black smoke billows around it. The barrier flickers after impact, and a spike of fear shoots through John. Is Arlo okay? He took quite a hit.  
  
Feeling slightly dissociated, he looks down at his hands. They’re skinned and trembling. His heart is beating unnaturally quickly, and he takes in a shaky breath.  
  
_You’re okay_ , he thinks to himself. _Next time watch where you’re going._  
  
He looks up at the barrier again and notices that it’s slowly shrinking, as if it were being cautious. At first his heart jumps in panic; then he realizes that Arlo’s trying to find him. The smoke must be too thick to see him. He reaches out a hand and gently touches the barrier.  
  
“I’m okay.”  
  
The barrier stops condensing and stays put. _Arlo must not want me to walk through the wreckage_ , John thinks. Despite this, John knocks on the barrier. He doesn’t want to stay in the middle of the street any longer. And he has to check on Arlo.  
  
The barrier flares in defiance. John huffs and knocks harder. After a few seconds the barrier dissipates.  
  
The stench immediately clogs his nose and he starts coughing. He forms his own barrier, copying Arlo’s. Sirens scream in the distance.  
  
When he finally makes his way out of the clutter, he sees Arlo...and his heart drops.  
  
The blonde is hunched over on the ground, arms clutching his chest. A woman is kneeling on the ground next to him. John runs toward him as fast as he can, forcing his wobbly legs into action.  
  
“ARLO!”  
  
The group of onlookers look up in alarm, but Arlo seems relieved. He struggles to push himself up, but the woman tries to keep him down. With one scathing glare she lets go.  
  
John reaches Arlo and grabs his forearm, pulling him up in one smooth motion. Arlo sways, but John holds him steady with both hands on Arlo’s arms. John looks him over, scanning for physical injuries. The blonde has blood dripping from his lip, and there’s a good amount of cooling blood on his shirt as well. His eyes are foggy and he’s holding his head; he must have a pretty bad headache. His face is scrunched in pain.  
  
“Y-you idiot.” Arlo rasps, his unfocused gaze not quite reaching John’s eyes.  
  
John gives him his signature, ‘I’m sorry I was stupid’ smile. “Do you wanna go back to campus? I’m sure Elaine would help you.”  
  
Arlo takes a shuddering breath. “The cops-”  
  
“-can screw themselves. You just got hit by a truck.”  
  
Arlo is quiet for a moment. Then his shoulders noticeably relax and he gives John a small grin. “Yeah, okay.”


	2. Arlo POV

Arlo sees the 16-wheeler before John does. His heart lurches when John sprints into the street; he’s running to his death.  
  
Time slows.  
  
“JOHN LOOK OUT!” He yells. He automatically throws his arm out and summons the most powerful shield he can. _Protect John_ , he orders. It obeys.  
  
The impact crushes his chest, and he feels spurts of blood fly out of his mouth. He falls on his knees. The pain reverberates from his chest to his skull and he yells, gripping his head with his hands. The world goes dark for a bit but he clings to consciousness. If he faints then John is exposed. _John_. Is he okay?  
  
He opens his blurry eyes (when had he closed them?) and tries to focus them on the accident. All he can see is dark smoke. Panic shoots through the pain, and the need to find John outweighs his own injuries; he has to find him. He reaches out for his barrier. It’s still in tact. Good. Still staring at the debris, he starts to slowly shrink the barrier, controlling it as much as he can in his poor state.  
  
He feels a hand on his shoulder. There’s someone saying something, but he can barely hear them over the ringing in his ears.  
  
Then he senses it. What he was looking for; or rather, who he was looking for. He feels a hand press against the inside of the shield; it’s slightly shaky, but in one piece. He slumps in relief. The incessant hand on his shoulder tightens, but he refuses to take his eyes off of the crash site until he sees John.  
  
He feels John knock on the barrier. He scoffs. John must be insane to think Arlo would let him through after that nonsense. He uses a precious bit of energy to strengthen the barrier.  
  
John knocks harder. Idiot. Fine. He slowly releases his grip on the shield and he feels it dissipate.  
  
Without the comfort of feeling that John’s safe, Arlo tenses again and the pain kicks back in full force. His head still feels like it’s tearing itself apart and his chest aches. It hurts to breathe. The iron taste of blood is in his mouth, and he spits. He lowers his head to the pavement, still hunched over.  
  
“ARLO!”  
  
His heart stutters, and he looks toward John’s voice. He sees John’s blurry figure running toward him.  
  
He needs to see that John’s okay; he tries to get his body to cooperate, but that _stupid hand_ keeps holding him down. Anger sparks in him and he sends his best glare at whoever is keeping him from John.  
  
Then John’s right in front of him. He feels his strong hand clasp his arm, and is pulled up. The world spins and a sharp ache pierces the center of his skull. He squeezed his eyes shut, doing his best to will the pain away. John steadies him. He blinks them back open.  
  
“Y-you idiot.” He tries to say it with authority, but it comes out weak. He sees a blurry version of John’s ‘I’m sorry I was an idiot’ smile TM.  
  
“Do you wanna go back to campus? I’m sure Elaine would help you.” John says. His voice sounds far away. He can vaguely hear the cop sirens.  
  
“The cops-”  
  
“-can screw themselves. You just got hit by a truck.” John interrupts.  
  
Classic John. Shirking responsibilities. They should be reporting what happened to the police. But… he did feel pretty awful. And relaxing at home sounds so much better than staying here all night.  
  
“Yeah okay,” he relents. John grins and picks up his arm, wrapping it around his own neck. Then they start the slow trek back to Arlo’s car.


End file.
